Sides of Me

Making time for family + work

2011-06-09T09:08:00.004+08:00

Hot Mama + Yummy Mommy + Working Mom =

Those are the women to look up to!

Trust me it's not easy being a hot + sexy + working mom when u need to take care of a little one. Been there and still struggling thru it @.@'

I've received a very good news at work last May. The BEST news since I first started working for my company 5 years ago. I finally got a PROMOTION and a huge PAY RISE!! My prayers been answered :oP

PS: Boss, if ur reading this, I LOVE U! LOL!!

It's not easy raising a child and a family nowadays especially with everything increasing in price EVERY SINGLE DAY! This pay rise definitely helped me to lower the burden on my shoulder.. a lot.

Giselle's new obsession these days are SHADOWS.

(check out my hair!! LOL!!)

Don't ask me why cause I have no idea what is so fascinating about it either!

Our small little family is quite busy lately;

Hubby busy with his classes + our new house

Mommy busy with work + work and MORE work

Lil' Giselle busy with learning more new skills (the busiest of all three)

We need to make time for our children no matter how busy we are.

It's easier to say this than actually DOING it - I know.

I'm trying my best to juggle between work + hubby + baby + parents and damn it's a hell lot of work. I barely have time for myself anymore.

Having people around giving u negative comments/ supports/ complains really make things worst. No matter how hard u try to avoid, these kind of people will just make their way into your life to make things miserable for u! YES!! I have a few of those people in my life and I'm damn sure they're not going away that easily =.='

I'm not perfect and I know that - no one ever will be perfect.

A little words of encouragement and praise goes a long way especially when it comes from the ones that matters the most in your life :o)

This kind of hairdo runs in the ONG family @_@'

Adding in another new member on 18th June 2011 - Russell Ong.

I'm officially having another nephew! Now I feel old =.=

In another weeks time it'll be Russell's full moon party + Ryan's 2 years old birthday.. gosh, time flies!

The next thing you know my little baby girl will be celebrating her very first birthday :o)

In 2 more weeks time, me and Hubby will be going on a short break to KL + Bangkok!

I kinda planned and pay for the trip as Hubby's birthday present this year (it was supposed to be a surprise tho) and I guess we both needed a break from all the craziness lately :o)

- YEA! I KNOW I'M A GOOD WIFE RIGHT?! LOL!!

Grandma's 76th Birthday

2011-03-14T10:11:00.004+08:00

5:30pm - We had a dual birthday celebration for both my Grandma and cousin, Ann Wong last Saturday. It was nothing grand, just a small intimate dinner attended by family members.

Giselle: "This mommy ah.. everyday busy snap pic nia.. ish.. kacau kacau aku makan!"

Giselle's multi-expression

She is definitely an angel!!

ooppss.. almost forgot this post is about my Grandma's birthday ;oP

Anyway, Happy Birthday Granny (altho I doubt there will be any chance she will be reading this) I wonder if I'll be having so many sons/daughters/grandchildren to celebrate my 76th birthday with me - that is if I live that long!

After finishing the dinner with my Grandma and all, me & hubby rushed to Grand Palace for his ex-classmate wedding reception dinner. We made it on time ;o)

Hubby with his ex-school/class mates..

Time flies.. if it was 10yrs ago, they'll still be wearing school uniforms snapping this pictures ;oP

Congratulation to Mr + Mrs Yong Kan Nam

(I sure hope I spelt this right)

A pic of the sexy me + hot hubby snapped by Mr. Wee Beng Kiat

(who is a hot architect + single + available for grabbing = but bad in snapping pics! haha..)

It was a fun night.. I'm sure hubby had a great time catching up with old buddies.

Hope the bride & groom will live happily ever after~

(P.S; That's Mr. Wee in white + wearing a spec)

Lil' Giselle turning 6 months old

2011-03-14T08:40:00.007+08:00

My baby girl has finally turn 6 months old last weekend! Time flies. Me & Hubby brought her over to Grand Palace for a tiny celebration - just the 3 of us.

Giselle & Mommy

Giselle & Dada

Giselle: "ok.. enough pics taking! I want my cake~!! cannot control my saliva anymore and teething is making it worst"

Giselle: "eee.. my chocolate cakessss.."

Family pics taking time..

But my little girl is too busy with her cake.. sigh..

.. still busy staring at her cakes!

Giselle: "Mom.. can I please have my cake now? please? I don wanna take one more pic if I don get a taste at my cakes"

Giselle: "I WANT MY CAKEEESSSS..." - throwing tantrum liao.. tsk tsk tsk..

Giselle: Thinking: "Mom found a way to shut me up. The magic of a pacifier"

Giselle: "How come I have a bad feeling that I won't be having a taste of any cakes tonite.. hmmm.."

(After 5mins, my cakes were history, thanks to Dada & Mommy)

Oh well, I'll make sure u grab it again when I turn 1 years old!

It was getting late so it's time for us to go home..

That's my cute little baby girl, Giselle Ong who has turned 6 months old.

I love her dearly altho she can be annoying every once in a while!

Giselle: "yupe! That's me! The annoying little tigress, I know I'm cute ;oP"

Dada is showing Giselle his new toy. And weird enough, my baby show deep interest in it. Guess it's in the blood - construction stuff.

Seriously, like I said.. she is really interested in it.

After 20 sec, she starts to put it inside her mouth and that is when we know how much she really LOVES IT.

Giselle: "Dada, can this go to sleep with me tonight? Please? - using her pity little eyes"

Dada/ Mommy: "HELL NO!!"

Giselle: "arrgghh.. I'm so gonna get u one day, just u wait and see"

It was a tiring day. After celebrating with Giselle and playing with her for an hour, it was time to get our shut eyes. I've been neglecting my blog a lot after this little one is born but it's time to get back on track - nothing better to kick it off with a post entry relating to my little princess!

Died

2011-01-06T08:04:00.004+08:00

5th January 2011.

Today my heart stop beating.. for you.

5th January 2011.

Today my tears stop dropping.. for you.

5th January 2011.

Today my love for you.. ended.

Marriage

2010-11-23T13:07:00.003+08:00

A big CONGRATULATION to a dear friend of mine whom I've known since Primary 1..

Dr. Lorna Chin!!

20 November 2010 - Grand Palace Hotel

Marriage is really a big step to take in a woman's life.
You'll be living with another new family which u have to cope with.
You need to prepare for motherhood.
I'm wishing u all the best with Farrel!

I heard a lot of ppl saying the 1st few years of marriage is the hardest. At first I don't believe that cause I thought that's when the honeymoon period is - but hell I was wrong.

I'm married for a year now and it feels like forever.
Everything happens to fast for me, dated for 1 year and we got married.
Married for 1 year and now we're looking at our first baby girl already - whom for me is the prettiest and cutest little thing alive.

Staying happily married is really not an easy thing.
A lot of dating moments will not be brought down to marriage;
I miss those intimate moment where we used to just hangout cuddling.
I miss those time where u used to care about me a lot more than u are now.
I miss that person who used to trust me and whom I trust with my life.
I miss that person whom I thought I could grow old with.
I miss those moment where u used to hold my hands.
And of course, I miss those moment where u used to make me feel like I'm everything u ever needed.. I miss that the most.

I think now is the time for me to pull my handbreak.
No more BIG moves in my current lifestyle.
So stop asking me, "When are u having ur 2nd child?" cause that won't happen until I'm 100% comfortable with my marriage ;o)

Giselle - 1 month old

2010-10-23T12:42:00.005+08:00

Hello people!!

I'm Giselle Ong Chi Hui..

Currently only 1 month old..

Hobby: Drinking Milk

*Multi-expression*

Current Body Shape

Weighting in 4.1kg

My hot mummy and I

mm.. come to think of it, haven't taken any pictures together with daddy yet neh.. have to make sure I do so tonight.

Watch out Mirian..

By the time I'm 21, a new tai-jie will take over!

The nice thing about having a baby girl is that u get to have a real grown BARBIE DOLL!! hahaa.. I just love dressing up my little angel especially now when she is all FAT and CHUBBY!!

My little ballerina..

*Dress bought by Winnie Chan*

My workaholic baby..

*Shirt by Ryan Ong*

My baby in her sun dress..

*Dress bought by Winnie Chan*

My little flower girl..

*Dress by Winnie Chan*

My tomboy baby..

*Shirt by Ryan Ong*

My cowwish baby..

*Outfit bought online by mummy*

My little ninja girl..

*Outfit bought online by mummy*

Still MORE to come.. stay tuned ;oP

Confinement Period - Giselle 0 months old

2010-10-23T11:02:00.002+08:00

The hardest part (for me) about having a baby is not the giving birth process, it's the 1st month after birth! The terrible and horrible confinement period!! aahh.. just thinking about it still gives me the chill.. Thank God it's OVER!!

Giselle with her Tommee Tippie

-19 days old-

She had grown so much compare to back then..

During the 1st week of confinement, not only my "wounded" area hurts like hell, I had to eat the same thing over and over again for breakfast + lunch + dinner. Needing to take care of the baby again at night with a terrible backache.. aahh.. just thinking of all that really makes me doubt I'll even have a 2nd child.

The fat me and cute Giselle during the 20th day of confinement

Upon entering the 3rd week of confinement, everything started to look a lot better. My crazy hormons are starting to get back on tracks meaning no more sudden tears dropping or getting too emotional. And I can start watching TVs and do some reading as the old ppl keep on saying that if u use too much of ur eyes to read/see things during the first 2 weeks of confinement, you will injured ur eye sight worr.. (altho I still ada curi-curi tengok FB and watch some TV la.. haha..)

My lazy little angel..

Missing those time where she just eat then sleep then shit.

Giselle taking her daily bath

At first, I was a bit worried cause upon entering the 4th week of confinement, little Giselle still look a bit dark skin! Me and my husband are both famous of being VERY fair-skin so having a dark skin baby might raise a lot of questions.. hahha.. It's weird, during the 1st month, Giselle keep on changing skin colour from pink - red - brown - fair!

Giselle throwing her daily tantrum

My little girl is very on-time when it comes to her milk feeding time. Not a minute less. So got to make sure that I feed her on time or else she'll be throwing us crazy tantrum!

Thanks for all those nice gifts and dresses all of u gave her. I'm really working very hard to make sure she wears and uses all of it - seems like size 0-3 months dresses doesn't fit her anymore nowadays ;o( She is really growing up FAST! The next thing u know, she is getting married liao *gulp*

The full moon party is here.

FInally, Giselle turning into 1 months old.

Skin looking fair.

Thank God ;oP

Birth

2010-10-22T20:26:00.004+08:00

Finally, an update!!

It has been ages since my last update (yes, I know, I know - being pregnant really makes a person moody to even blog) but anyway, I'm BACK!!

I guess it's only right for me to kick back with a post about my child's birth process right? All I'm gonna say is that I enjoyed it very much and well, I think I'm gonna wait for at least another 2-3 years till I'm ready to experience it again.

I started my maternity leave on 9th Sept 2010 as I thought of just relaxing and chilling out while waiting for the birth of my little angel which EDD was still 2 weeks away. Anyway, it was Hari Raya the next day (10th Sept) and I was already starting to have a LITTLE bit of contraction but I still, I ignored it cause it was Hari Raya leh.. how can I miss out all those yummy food!! haha.. so I end up going raya-ing with my mom and her friends. We went to at least 5 houses for food hunting that day and man, I was STUFFED by the end of the day!!

As night time rolls in, my so called LIGHT contraction started to get a bit HEAVIER. My mom insisted me to "check-in" to the hospital right away since I'm even starting to have discharge. It was about 9pm and I went in Columbia Hospital (by force), the nurse came in to check on me telling me that the doctor will only be available the next morning (cause he was busy raya-ing as well) and unless I'm really about to give birth or else he'll only see me the next day ;o( I asked my mom to spend the night with me in the hospital since my husband can't cause he was terribly sick (yes! during such important day of our lifes) I couldn't sleep whole night cause my contraction was really starting to give me pressure liao..

The next morning (11th Sept), I was really looking terrible cause I didn't slept whole night and I barely have the energy to move around anymore with the pain hanging around. My doctor finally came in and check on me at 11am telling me that I've only open for 2cm and it's still a VERY long way to go (after all that pain) and he asked me whether I wanna get this over with faster and without hesistation, who would say NO at that time right?

So, he checked me into the labor room and induced me - before got induced I already took the epidural injection cause I really can't bare to undergo anymore pain that is worst than it already is at that time.

They induced me at 1pm in the delivery room. I waited and waited until it's about 5pm and finally the doctor came in and tell me "it's time". At that time, I was dead sleepy and I feel nauses due to the epidural - before birth, I even vomited a full bag. About 5.20pm, I started my "pushing" and the baby was safely delivered on 5.35pm by natural birth. I didn't had to undergo any surgical or equipment help as the baby was in the perfect position for birth and just the right size to squeeze out of me without even needing me to cut.

At 5.35pm, there she was.. crying out loud.. the nurses was busy sucking and cleaning her up before handing her over to me. Her cute little pair of eyes was already widely open when the nurse handed her over to me. The cutest little thing I've ever seen in my entire life.. and she is all MINE!!

My baby girl, Giselle Ong Chi Hui.

Born on Sept 11, 2010 - 5.35pm

Wondering away.

2010-05-27T09:55:00.006+08:00

Having a fulfilling career and being financially independent are important for your general wellbeing and quality of life. But u need family, friends and a partner to go thru life with and share ur ups and down. What's the point of having the house if there is no-one to share it with?

-Getting married is the easy part, working out a marriage is the hard part-

Secretly wish you had what your friends has, or that she didn't have everything? We're all guilty of making comparisons, but it's unhealthy to do so at the expense of ur own confidence. You may think ur fren's life is way better den urs but what u see if only the glossy side of their lives. In reality, everyone has hard times and self-doubts.

-Jealousy. Can't seems to be thankful for what u have-

What does a man value most in a relationship?

(1) Being able to laugh and hang out with u

(2) Mutual respect and good communication

(3) Trust

(4) A mind-blowing sex life

-What is the recipe for making a marriage work-

Absent

2010-03-26T10:07:00.005+08:00

I need to clarify and get this straight.

I'm not being lazy nor have I been neglecting my blog for no GOOD reason.

Lately, I've been busy struggling + preparing for one of the biggest challenge in my life....

HAVING A BABY!!

YES!! I'm tagged!!

It's a BIG shock for me when I first found out - wasn't really ready for it but we'll just have to ride with the wind now. Now all of u shud know why I've been turning down offers to hangout + travel + shopping or doing any other crazy stuff (I'm sure I'm forgiven liao.. haha..)

Being close to 4 months pregnant, I'm feeling more alive liao..

I'm lucky enough to not have to experienced any "morning sickness" - yeah, I'm one of those lucky ones. THANK GOD for letting me escape the torture of vomitting here and there. The only thing I had to go thru was feeling sleepy MOST of the time during my first trimester.

*touch wood* hopefully I'm not those kind of ppl that get their "sickness" near the end of the pregnancy.

So, closing in on the 4th month of pregnancy, me + hubby + family + close friends are still playing the guessing game on whether it's.................

an adorable, fat, juicy cute little Baby Boy (like him!!)

OR is it going to be...........

a beautiful, cute, sexy little Baby Girl (like me!!!)

It really was hard looking for "chinese babies" picture on the internet! All ang-mo neh.. have to look at more chinese looking babies, won't want my baby to come out with a pair of blue eyes now would I ;oP mmm.. come to think of it, it would be great to be able to have a chinese baby with a set of blue eyes ehh.. (ok.. continue dreaming on Jennifer..)

Emo.

2010-02-24T14:25:00.003+08:00

The damage had been done.

It has been a while but it all seems just happened yesterday to me.

I tried to forget about it and move on... but the damage was just too bad.

I tried to forgive u but everytime I try.. u just know how to make it worst.

sigh.. am I being too harsh? sensitive?

Damn.. it must be the hormons ;o(

Chinatown/ Motommachi Street+ Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum

2010-01-27T14:38:00.001+08:00

Finally, the last post. Day 12. It was a relaxing day today.

Our 1st stop for the day was The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial - Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution.

That's Nelly, busy buying our entrance tickets while we were busy ke-po-ing here and there.. didn't snap much pictures after entering the place tho' cause NO CAMERA were allowed ;o(

17th January 1995 - the date that the Japanese will never forget.
They built this Earthquake Museum to hand down to the future generations the experiences and lessons learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and sending msg-es to the world regarding the preciousness of life and importance of cooperation between people.

After finishing there, off we went to our next stop, the Chinatown & Motommachi Street of Osaka. All of us feel warm and at home when we arrived here cause u can start hearing mandarin words and u can even communicate in chinese with the sellers liao.. home sweet temporary home ;oP

It's just like we're in China.. haha.. except all the chinese here speaks fluent Japanese! I'm ashame of myself, husband teaches Japanese and yet I don't even speak a word of it. Btw, have I ever told u guys about how WE met? I mean me and my husband... it all started.... mmm.. I think I better save that up for another post ;oP

oh yes.. it tastes more good than it looks babehh~~

and most importantly, the food are all cooked!!! YES!!! not raw *yuck*. I'm so lucky to be born a chinese.. haven't u heard? Chinese dishes is the most delicious cuisine in the world!!

aaawww... those were damn good!! gosh.. I'm making myself hungry again ;o(

nah nah.. they even have instant "Pecking Duck" for sale!! 500Yen for one small piece, kanasai.. tat is like RM20 for just 3-4 bites nia..

mom definitely wasn't the only one going insane here, all of us were so busy buying food to eat, left + right hand both holding food with our mouth busy chewing!!

Us at the center of Chinatown. Heading across over to Motommachi Street. Suddenly feeling the atmosphere of Chinese New Year liao.. haha..

They even have "Sun Wukong" and its gang's statue.. man, it sure feels good to be at home.

aaahh~~ this really reminds me of my brother at home. I really missed him that time - I'm sure it would have been MORE fun if he was around ;o)

Cousin Fabrian Tiew feeling all tired and ashausted liao.. the kids didn't really enjoyed this trip cause it was more about sight seeing on historical places and not theme parks.

.... unlike those aunties! they LOVED this trip cause it was mostly about them ;o)

7800 yen for 1 Durian!!

Tat is definitely one VERY EXPENSIVE durian = RM300++ for 1 durian nehhhhh~~!!!

It's fake. Looks damn real to me ehh.. wat do u think?

Japanese garbage truck~ so tiny..

if Malaysia were to be using garbage trucks this size, I'm sure it will take them forever to finish gathering all the rubbish around town.

syoknya ini apekk..

We were all tired walking and he gets to ride on this tiny ride of his. You have just got to give credits to Japanese ppl for even coming up with all sorts of weird inventions.

oopss.. sorry for Malay readers..

I just couldn't resist ;oP

After spending about an hour++ here, it was time to move on. Feeling all full and satisfied, we head back to our bus to ride to our 3rd stop of the day.

And it was the....
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum

Sake brewing has been modernized and old methods have been replaced by new techniques. As a result, old materials and tensils are gradually disappearing. Hakutsuru has, therefore, reopened one of its old breweries which had been used until recently for storage.

Built in early 1900's. Later used as a storage house until March, 1969.
It is in this old brewery that the tradisional methods for sake brewing will unfold.

Rice Washing (Senmai)

Refined rice is placed in a washing tub. Two young men in short sleeves, short pants and headbands stand in the wash tub barefooted and tread on the rice, accompanied by the lively chant. The water is then drained away and the trodding takes place again. This process is repeated many times.

Steaming (Mushimai)
Washed rice is then transferred to a steamer that is placed on a caldron. Openings in the bottom of the steamer let in steam from the boiling caldron, and as the steam rises it is carefully watched by the stokers.

Cooling (Hourei)

The steamed rice is then divided, depending on various usage, such as for mash or moulding, and spread out to cool. Following tradision, the stoker spreads the steaming rice on a straw mat. He then draws a lone, then two and then three to assure even cooling.

Mould culturing for the Steamed Rice (Koji)

Koji (moulding rice) is cultured in a special highly humid chamber. It is stirred twice at two or three hour intervals to make sure the spored of mould grow evenly.

Seed Mash (Moto)
The koji and steamed rice are precisely measured and placed in shallow boxes. Water is carefully poured in using a special tap called a Dragon's Mouth (Tatsunokuchi), and stirred with a paddle-like stirrer.

Main Mash (Moromi)

A new mixture of steamed rice, water and koji is added to the seed mash in 3 stages. The fermented mash is then returned to tanks and then to smaller containers.

Filtering (Joso)
The fermented mash is placed in filtering bags and pressed to extract sake. The first rough filtration is followed by another on the following day. To obtain perfectly pure sake, the process is repeated again for another day.

Skimming (Oribiki) and Pasteurizing (Hiire)
As the fresh sake is still cloudy, it is allowed to settle for another week and then skimmed. The clear sake is then pasteurized with a temperature of about 60 degree.

Storage (Chozo)

Purified sake is placed in storage tanks and the bubbles on top are skimmed off. The tanks are covered and weights are placed on top to secure them. And the long sleep until autumn begins.

Barreling (Taruzume)
Clear sake is poured into barrels made of Yoshino cedar. They are wrapped in straw mats, marked, labeled and prepared for distribution.

Random pictures taken.

There is an air of dignity as one walks among the aged, solid wood pillars and subdued atmosphere of the museum. The centuries-old method of sake brewing, which originated in the eary seventeeth century is recreated here with life-lie models and real tools.

Amida

A pulley system for lifting and lowering equipment between the 1st and 2nd floors.

A scene showing the dining area for the brewers, so that not only brewing methods but daily living habits are also portrayed.

Some of the equipment used during ancient sake brewing.

That's about it for the Sake Museum and the ancient sake brewing process.

There was a small area in the museum for the visitors to shop some souvernirs such as sake or facial care. I bought 2 boxes of facial care here which I have yet to try out ;o)

*
4th stop,

Kobe Harbourland!

First, I don't know why we were here at all. No shoplots were open - nothing to see at all.. hahaa.. we got off the bus and then snap a few pics den head back to our bus. All in less then 15mins time!!

Maybe the travel agency was running out of ideas on where to bring us to liao since we requested to spend 14Days for this trip, guess they ran out of places to bring us ;oP

Ok, tat's it for Kobe Harbourland.. haha..

We finished earlier than we expected so with so many extra time to spare, Nelly decided to bring us to the largest Outlet store in Japan,

Kobe-Sanda Premium Outlet

Nelly telling us the route to take + wat time shud we meet up.

We have 2 hours to shop here and then we'll be heading back to the hotel to pack for home tomorrow liao..

Crocs.. Crocs.. yea, I'm a fan!!

But I didn't bought any cause' I was saving it up for the shopping in KL when we get there ;o)

It was all BRANDED goods sold here. I didn't even bought 1 single thing! haha.. cause I tend to find branded goods sold in Japan are much more expensive compare to the same thing sold in KL - even after discount!

aaaawwww~~ I miss BamBam so much when I saw this little fella'~~~

But mama is coming home!!

We finished here around 5pm so it was really getting late and we really shud be getting back to the hotel. When we got back to our hotel, we were all busy squeezing the stuff we bought into our bags, praying that it will fit. We spent another 4 more days in Kuala Lumpur and there was where the shopping really began for ME larr.. hehe..

Over-weight 50kgs when we catch the plane from KL back to Miri.. sigh.. had to pay RM15 for each kg, YES!! tat is a lot of money!!! sienzz.. oh well, at least we had fun ;o)

-Finally, The End-

Kuromon Market + Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

2010-01-25T15:31:00.000+08:00

Day 11 of our long holiday. Today's schedule was a bit loose cause we have already visited most of the places we were supposed to visit today. We're just gonna head to 2 places today, first stop, Kuromon Market aka the Black Market.

The market itself is just located at a 15mins walk away from our hotel. It's a morning market where they sell fresh vegetables, some kitchen-ware, simple clothing, shoes, medicines and etc.. stuff where u usually can find in a market larr..

I'm not one of those market kind of person (if u get what I mean) so I wasn't really jumping up and down when we got here, but that will be another whole different story for my mom and my aunty.. they were thrill to be here!!

one cute toy poddle.. aaaawwwwwww... busy shopping around with its owner ;o)

the pomegranates sold here was damn good!! bought a few back to our hotel and enjoyed and YES, it was delicious..~~

The Japanese just have to win over everything.. even the vege are much more bigger size den ours ;o)

Talking about being economical and fresh-ness ehh.. but it doesn't really come cheap either, 100Yen = RM4

Recognize wat's this??!!

Yes!! altho I don't remember wat it's called but I remember clearly it was Nobita + Doraemon's favourite food in the comic ;oP See the gei po me trying to act smart lorr.. telling ppl the tales of Doraemon.. haha..

Know wat's this????

Fresh uncut Wasabi~~~~

Fresh Seafood~~ aaarrrggghh~~ I know a few ppl will probably be shouting seeing those big crabs ;oP

There were sure a lot of doggies busy shopping here..

Mommy was really starting to enjoy it here, keep on sayin, "we'll come back here again later on.. there is a lot of things I wanna buy!"

Me and my mom at Kuromon Market~

jeng jeng.. CCH favourite ;oP

mmm.. everyone looked serious horr.. know wat's that I'm holding? BamBam + Snow souvenir -had to get them something from Japan ma rite???!!! Ok, it was time to moved on liao with our journey liao.. mom + aunty was still saying, "we'll come back again later"

After a short bus ride, we arrived at our last destination of the day.. haha.. yea, the 2nd spot was the last spot of the day ;o)

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

This is the 2nd largest aquarium in the whole Japan. The biggest one will be in Okinawa which I'll be going during this coming Chinese New year ;o)

Kids having the outdoor session... aaawwwww.. little Japanese children~~ so kawaii nehh.. with matching pants summore!! doi doi~~

ok.. time to go into the aquarium, I wasn't wearing any jacket tat day so better get inside before I froze!!

*Another free Japanese English lesson* - by my Dad.

Upon entering the aquarium.

The tour around the Pacific Ocean starts from this tunnel-shaped tank, 11 meters long in total. U can spot Cownose ray, Foxface and Damselfishes here..

Time to go see the scariest thing on earth.. sharky sharky... eeeuuu~~~

Fishes living in the open jungle~~

We were waiting for groups and groups of students to pass us first before continuing on. Hate being stuck with too many ppl, u can't see things~

Random pictures taken in the aquarium. My dad took at least 500 pics in there so I can't really afford to post ALL of it. If u would really like to see those weird fishes, come by to my house la and I'll show u the pictures ;oP

Me and couz Jess at the souvenir store

aaahh~~ my dad aka the talented photographer!! I love him.. love him even more for all those nice photos ;oP

Sightseeing Sailing Ship, Santa Maria.

The Columbus' sailing ship, Santa Maria, is reproduced twice as large as the original one. You can enjoy Osaka Bay cruise feeling the fresh sea breeze riding this baby~

But we didn't ride it la.. won't be nice to get sea sick rite? ;oP

ok.. calling that a day! off we were sent back to our hotel liao.. yea, this is gonna be the shortest post of the entire trip, haha.. we continued on with our shopping at our hotel area for the rest of the day.

-stay tuned for the last post of the trip-

Kiyomizu Temple + Osaka Castle

2010-01-15T10:33:00.027+08:00

Day 10. I'm starting to feel like as if I've been living in Japan all these time liao.. tis is really a long trip. Anyway, to kick off the day, we went to see one of the tourist favourite spot, Kiyomizu Temple.

Kiyomizu-dera known more fully as Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto.

Souvenirs sold on the street to Kiyomize Temple ;o)

A Deva gate

Random pics taken before entering the temple.

The three-story pagoda

A lot of love/ blessing/ wishes plates were hung here. Wanted to put one up too but it was kinda rush so.. maybe next time ;oP

Entering the great hall. The main buiding of the whole place - the main attraction.

The old people back then sure have "taste" when it comes to coming up with a special design of lamp ;o)

View taken on the veranda of Kiyomizu-dera hall.

The main buiding and its stage.

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.

The special thing about this temple here is because not even one single nail is used in building the whole temple.

Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive a 13m jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. Two hundred thirty-four jumps were recorded in the Edo period and, of those, 85.4% survived.

The practice is now prohibited.

The heavy weapons the warriors used back in the old days.. siao.. really heavy, I can't even move it with two hands..

Cute neh their Gods.. hehehe..

Then, there we were. Probably my favourite spot of the whole place (altho I'm married liao la), Torii of Jishu-jinja, a matchmaking shrine.

See all those charms?? haii.. too bad I'm married, if not sure I sapu!! haha..

Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 18 meters apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

I managed to walk thru smoothly.. yeah yeah..

They were selling charms everywhere around the temple, I was starting to get tempted but I managed to control myself. Not only it doesn't come cheap but I don't really believe this kind of stuff ;o)

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the waters, which is believed to have therapeutic properties. Drinking the water of the three streams is said to confer wisdom, health, and longevity. However, some Japanese believe that you must choose only two; if you are greedy and drink from all three, you invite misfortune upon yourself.
Matilah.. I din know about tat, just read about that after I drank from 3 sources lehhh!!! tiam..!!!

Doing some light shopping before heading back to our mini bus~

We were given 3hrs to spent here but we managed to finished up the place just using 2hrs.. maybe all of us was getting a bit tired looking at temples and shirines liao.. hehe..

*Random pics taken before we head into the bus*

It was time for us to head to the train station and head back to Osaka!!!! YESSSS!!!!! But since we finished early here, we still have a few hours to spare so Nelly decided to bring us to another place before boarding the train ;o)

We went to the Temple of the Hair Rope.

Ok.. I guess all of u can guess what this place is so special for.. yea, "hair rope".

Too bad we can't get a clear shot of the hair rope. It was really a very BIG rope and it was only ONE part of it. The ladies back in the old days chopped off their hair and made up strong ropes for the hall's construction.

*

When we're done with the "rope" it was time to get to Kyoto train station to head back to my city Osaka.. jeng jeng jeng..

yea.. why can't we have such fancy train station back home huh..

The Kyoto station is the only building u can find in Kyoto with a modern design - the goverment doesn't allow modern construction in town cause they wanted to perserve its culture and tradision.

Time to borad the bullet train.

It was a 15mins train ride for us.. ko lien punya bus driver, he had to drive all the way from Kyoto back to Osaka to meet us (for our luggage bag).

jeng jeng~!!!

We're back in the city~~!!! FINALLY~~!!!!

who says Japanese ppl doesn't break the law?!!

smoking in the prohibited area.. tsk tsk tsk..

After waited around for about 5mins, we hop on to our bus and off we head to our next destination of the day. The weather is getting warmer as we moved back into the city.

After a short bus ride, we arrived at our next destination, Osaka Castle.

see that tiny little ninja turtle bus? tat's our ride for the entire trip!!

I always said that we are riding a "MINI" bus and now u know why..

The train sending/ picking ppl to/ from Osaka Castle.

We decided to just walk over and ride it on our way back ;o)

Japanese students having an outdoor activity session - painting the view of Osaka Castle.

Behind us: Rokuban Turrent

Time to start off our looonnggg walking journey - would have taken the train nia if we knew the walk was going to be this far ;o(

Behind us: Ichiban Turrent

*Another lesson of Japanese English*

After a tiring 30mins walk, finally we reached the Sakura Gate - the main entrance to Osaka Castle. I was sweating when we reached there.. yea, tat was a big deal when ur in Japan during winter time! had to take off my coat cause I can feel the sweat on my back ;o(

Upon entering the gate, we were thinking on drinking of this thing but that was when Nelly shouted saying "I know what u guys are thinking, NO! this is for washing ur hands.. not for ur thirsty throats" - sienzzz...

The stone-wall were built using man-power.. it's really hard to figure out how the Japanese were able to carry such BIG stones to build up the wall.

Behind us: Former Head Quarter of 4th Division

Before proceeding into Osaka Castle, we decide to find something to eat first nearby.

It was time for lunch.. hungry hungry and all I can think of is "Japanese curry" so yea, I had another one here, but the previous one tasted better ;oP

My uncle was so hungry he had to order the BIGGEST ramen in the shop and YES, he finished it!

My dad's lunch ;o)

Happy mommy ;oP

After finishing our delicious lunch, it was time to pay a visit to Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle Park is a public urban park and historical site situated at Osaka-Jō in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan - 2nd largest park in Osaka. The park was constructed on a site with a long history which I don't plan to go into - for more info, ask my husband! He is more of the history person ;oP

In 1931, Osaka Castle Park was opened to the public, but most of the area was used by the Imperial Japanese Army. After World War II, most of the military complex was removed and replaced by the public urban park.

Reaching the top of the castle. It was a looonnngg walk up... and down of course~

We didn't snap a lot of pics inside the castle cause' it was kinda dark and most of the item displayed are their historical items such as hanging scroll with fan-shaped pictures, cuirass (domaru type), wooden image of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, poems and etc.

Tat's all for Osaka Castle but if u happened to be in Miri, u can drop by TOYO Institute cause most of the catalogs and info I brought back are all there for viewing ;o)

*

Off we head to our last destination of the day, Umeda Sky Building.

The Umeda Sky Building is the seventh-tallest building in Osaka City, Japan, and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

It was almost Christmas and a group of foreigners set up a small Xmas market selling Xmas goodies just at the entrance of Umeda Building.

*Random pic taken*

The building consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center. It is located in Kita-ku.

The longest escalator ride I've ever taken.

Sitting, looking out at the wonderful view of Osaka city ;o)

Carpet of the lift which we'll be riding to get to the "Floating Garden".

The 173 m (568 ft) building was designed by Hiroshi Hara. It was constructed by Takenaka Corporation and was completed in 1993.

Pics taken on the highest floor of the building. North + East.

The building features a rooftop observatory, well known as "The Floating Garden".

The Umeda Sky Building was featured as a renovated skyscraper in my hubby's favourite computer game, Simcity 3000.
The Floating Garden Observatory in the Umeda Sky Building was also visited in Leg 10 of Amazing Race 12.

My dad and uncle hated this place cause they were scare of tall places.. hahaa.. my dad didn't even wanted to look outside the glass lift when we were riding it to the top ;oP

The lowest floor, the underground market that attempts to recreate the atmosphere of Osaka in the early 20th century.

After done taking pics on top, it was time for us to get down and do some sight seeing of on the base of the Umeda Sky Building.

Like I said earlier on, Xmas items were on sale liao..

These ppl are selling even more expensive than the Japanese.. tsk tsk.. of course I didn't buy anything, I would have been totally broke if I did.

The only thing I can afford was THIS - popcorn ;oP

It smell too nice to resist liao bahh...

After finishing here and bought my popcorn, it was time for us to head back to our main hotel, Swissotel. Can't wait to get back and shower then we could head off for a heavy shopping spree on the shopping streets nearby our hotel - before getting some shut eyes of course..

-stay tuned-

Hikone + Rokuon-ji Temple (The Golden Pavilion)

2010-01-12T09:41:00.031+08:00

Day 9.
The weather is starting to get warmer as we moved on. First stop of the day is non other than the famous "Hikone Castle"

Then we're off for our 90mins Hikone Castle walk~

Hikone city was established as a castle town in the Edo era. The town possessed many merchants, craftsmen, and farmers other than warriors. There were over 100 different occupations that were divided at specific districts according to their social structure.

In addition, warriors lived in specific areas according to their ranking. They were called Hikone Machi Kata fifty-three Cho. Currently most of the town and its names are updated, however, it can still be differentiate based on the design of the houses and roads.

Have to purchase a ticket first before u get to enter the Hikone Castle..

And then after that is where the real WALK begins.. climb climb climb up the tall tall long long rock-stairway..

This is just like one small part of it.. we had to walk thru at least 8 stairways like this *faint*

*half-dead* liao.. finally we are getting close to the castle!!

*Random pics taken upon entering the compound of Hikone Castle*

jeng jeng.. this is it!!
Hikone Castle is a magnificent 400 year old structure. It is three stories tall, with ivory white walls and surrounded by a double moat. The castle has been valued at 350,000 koku (an old system of measurement, where one koku = the amount of rice it takes to feed one person for one year).

The view outside Hikone Castle, yes, mountain top..

after walking thru 8 crazy long stairways~

I don really remember much of wat is inside the castle, but all I can remember is that it has the steep-ist staircase I've ever walked on!!!! My mom didn't even wanted to go up once she saw the staircase.. hahaha..

She rather wait outside for us to finish checking out the castle ;o)

These red leaves are insanely beautiful, how I wish I could have one of these in my backyard one day ;oP

More view of the place..

After spending some time there, it's time to move on to another area of the place. It took us a while to get there, banyak staircase bahhhh...

After a few minutes walk, finally we reached Genkyu-en (Garden)

I'm not gonna say much here cause' as they said,

"A picture paints a thousand words"

After a short 20mins walk, finally we're at the EXIT. It's time we head back to our parking lot and head to the next destination.

My mom was going insane seeing all those beautiful trees and flowers so we spent another 15mins here before heading back to the bus.. she kept on shouting, "I want a pic taken here!! I want a pic taken there!!" tsk tsk tsk..

My cousin was thinking that she wanna snap a picture us where there were lotsa red leaves dropping on us.. sekali.. these turns out!

"E suk chao" eeehhh sehhh!! hahaha..

A pic of the wonderful cameraman, DADDY and beautiful, MOMMY!

Then we're off to our next destination~

We're still consider inside Hikone City - just less than 15mins drive away from Hikone Castle. Arriving at Yonban-Cho Square.

This refreshed Taisho styled town used to be called the kitchen of Hikone. This relaxing town is centered around HIkone food manor Yonban Cho dining, and Hikone center town plaza.

There is a patio, a creek and a Roku Dou Shi for your relaxation. And your can always hear hypersonic sounds when ur walking around the street ;o)

*souvenirs sold* - I wanted to buy but duno wanna give to whom ;o(

Then it's time for lunch~!!

Aarrgghhh.. starving nehhh~~~~

I get to do something very interesting during lunch tis time. I get to "tum tum tum" my own sesame den mix it with the sauces I like.. macam main masak masak ;oP

Cousin Fabrian + Jessica decided to do something funny!

Those are real!!

Ok, off we head to our next spot!!

Wushhh... there we were!

The famous Golden Pavilion - Rokuon Ji Temple

After a long-Q, finally it's Nellys' turn to buy our ticket~

semua laki-laki one nehhh..

There were a lot of school students paying the place a visit that day, more than 20 groups a ppl - at least!

The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku)

The 1st floor is Shinden-zukuri - the palace style. It is named Ho-sui-in.

The 2nd floor is Buke-zukuri - the style of the samurai house. It is called Cho-on-do.

The 3rd floor is Karayo style or Zen Temple style. It is called Kukkyo-cho.

Both the 2nd and 3rd floor are covered with gold leaf on Japanese lacquer.

The roof, upon the Chinese phoenix settles, is thatched with shingles.

The pond is called Kyoko-chi (Mirror pond).

The view behind the Golden Pavilion ;o)

Then we're off to see its beautiful garden.

The garden remains as it was in the former days and can be enjoyed as it was hundreds of years ago.

*View of the garden*

The place was really crowded that day, we didn't really got the chance to slowly enjoy the view and buy some charms and stuff - too many Japanese students liao..

Fudo-do, a hall dedicated to the God of Fire.

last chance to shop before we head out!! and still... we bought nothing ;oP

Finishing the tour of the Golden Pavilion~~

There were still so many tour groups coming in as we exit the place!! This must be one famous tourist spot..

Mommy grabbing another ice-cream.. as usual..

She bought ice-cream whenever she sees a stall is selling!

pwweeiitt~~ amoi Jepun..

youngster~ harrr... those were the days ;oP

Last spot of the day before we head back to our Kyoto Hotel.

Nishijin Textile Centre

yes.. this is one of the places where they do handmade stuff.

so old liao.. still a PRO when it comes to making the perfect kimono drawings!

*goods sold*

this lady here is making silk~

My first time seeing silk wormssss...

GELIIIIII~~~~

wondering why something so ugly can produced something so pretty and EXPENSIVE!!

din bought anything here, it is just way out of my league ;oP

decorating items.. handbags.. all handmade.. watever u want, they have it all!

Me and Jess tired liao looking around..

Handmade bear bear~~

Painting, drawings..

Counter lady.. no no.. this one is not for sale! ;oP

Wanted to buy one for hubby but then, since the day we start dated I've never seen him wore a tie before (except our wedding day la..)

After snooping around for about 15mins, finally the main attraction in the building is about to start, the FASHION SHOW~~ jeng jeng jeng..

I like the lady wearing the black kimono.. the rest look so-so to me nia..
After the fashion show, we were all getting tired liao.. time to head back to the hotel and rest cause we'll be heading back to Osaka liao the next day~~!!! YESSSSS!!!

-stay tuned-

Samurai Residence + Kenrokuen Garden

2010-01-05T13:41:00.021+08:00

Day 8. Still cold as ever - but at least it wasn't as cold as the day before. After today, we'll be moving towards cities liao!! YESSS!! no more sight seeing in kampung area!! THANK GOD!! cause I was really getting a bit bored liao blogging about historical places, been a while since I wrote any "ojibala" stuff ;oP

Talking about "ojibala" stuff, Japanese really have their way with English.

Spot the weird-ness??

A mini chapel
aaawww.. perfect for an intimate wedding!
The hotel we stayed in this time (Tonami Royal Hotel) is actually a popular wedding hotel. They offer a lot of various wedding packages and they even have a chapel built just outside the hotel for the occasion ;o)

Tonami Royal Hotel - outlook

Ok, it's time for us to continue on with our journey..

After 1hr++ drive, we reached our 1st destination. The area is called "Samurai Residence". And I suppose everyone knows why this area is a tourist attraction spot by its name.

All the houses here were very old, hundredS year old, OLD! And yet the Japanese were still able to perserved it until today - looking all tidy and new.

This area is where the lower level samurai were staying during that time. U can see the houses built are all very different than what we have now.

These houses has been pass from generation to generation so yea, the remaining family members of the samurai still lives here up until today - and NO! they are not samurai anymore! semua kerja office sudah.. modern samuraissss..

We have to walk + talk quietly cause this is still consider as a residence area.

SEE!! SEEE!! told ya I'm not a shorty!!!!

I had to bend my knee so much to even walk pass the door!! uii sehhh.. bangga saya~

I would have a nickname called "tall-y" if I were to be living with the samurai during that time ;oP

Tourguide Nelly with Me~

*Random pictures taken*

nah nah.. another scary devilish head!!

Another one of the Japanese Garden, they are just really that damn good in this!

Uncle Marcus + Jessica + Traffic control lady

Us visiting the inside of a Japanese samurai house. Everything looks very tiny and the space is small - no wonder ppl keep saying Japanese ppl are short and small-sized.

*tandas Jepun*
so darn small.. I can't fit in what to say wanna shit!!

After walking around for 1hr++, it was time for us to head back to the bus and head to our next destination. Saw this cute little Japanese dog walking down the street~~

steady lehh org Jepun~~!!

Next stop was Higashi Chaya

The street famous for geisha, yes, u heard me well, GEISHA!!!

But the bad news is, we went there during the morning sooooo, u won't be seeing any geisha in my blog today ;oP I was so excited also la then, thinking I will be sure to snaps millions of pics with geishassss that day.. sigh.. wat a disappointment!!

This is where the MOST popular geisha in the whole street is working at (based on wat Nelly told me la..)

*The Geisha Street*
It's not easy being a geisha cause 1st, u'll have to be a degree holder (disqualified),

Know a lot bout political + economical current issues (disqualified again),

Know "cha-dao" - tea making & serving where the girls take almost half a lifetime learning (disqualified again!!),

Know how to have a great conversation with ANYONE (ahh.. this one I think I'm qualified),

Great posture, gesture and attitude (ok la.. this one I got bit bit la..)

And they don't come cheap!!!

Nowadays, there are no more full-time geisha. The ladies will only work at night after finishing their normal office hour, so being a geisha is more like a part time job.

Geisha are getting less cause it takes a person too long to master all the skills of a geisha. Geisha are totally different than hookers (that is what I thought of them at first bahhh!!) cause u only pay them to have a chit chat and tea drinking session with u. The Japanese calls them "chai-女" which means high educated + talented ladies.

*yummy pao pao* - can u notice those are actually fake?

Altho we only spent less than 1hr here but we learnt a lot.

No geisha to see bah so we left early lorr..

*

Only a short car ride and we reached our next destination.

deh deh.. stuff like this also need 1,500yen = RM60.

We can get this below RM20 back in Malaysia.

Below RM10 in China!!

There we are.

*Kenrokuen Garden*
Kenrokuen is a strolling-style landscape garden with the characteristics of a typical landscape garden of the Edo period. It was actually the garden of Lord Harunaga.

The garden was named (by Shirakawa Rakuo) combining the six attributes of a perfect landscape garden, Spaciousness, Seclusion, Artifice, Antiquity, Watercourses and Panoramas.

The garden was only opened to public on May 7, 1874.

Random pics taken upon entering the BIG garden.

Karasakinomatsu Pine
This majestic pine tree is one of the best-known tree in the garden. The 13th Lord Nariyasu obtained the seed from Karasaki, near Lake Biwa, and it has grown from that seed to its present size. On Nov 1st every year, gardeners begin setting up yukizuri to protect the branches from heavy snow. The ropes on the trees are a winter sight that is characteristic of Kanazawa.

Me & mom

Behind: Kasumigaike Pond and Uchihashitei

Winding Streams (Kyokusui)
The abundant water running through the garden is taken in from the Tatsumi Water System, which was make for extinguishing fires after a big fire in 1631.

How come we don't have such beautiful garden make back home nehh?

Fountain (Funsui)
This is the OLDEST fountain in Japan. Its water comes from Kasumigaike Pond, and it works by natural pressure caused by the difference in the levels of the two ponds. Normally the fountain is 3.5m high, but its height changes depending on the surface level of Kasumigaike Pond. The fountain is said to have been developed as a model for the construction of a fountain that was in the castle in 1861.

Didn't really have the time to snap pictures of the entire place cause there was just too much to see and so little time ;oP so that's about it. Highly recommanded for visitors!

Mom grabbing her old version of coca-cola~~

Ishikawamon Gate (Back gate to Kanazawa Castle)
Built in 1788, this gate along with the Sanjikken Nagaya storehouse, is one of the few remaining original structures. It has been designated as a National Important Cultural property. The shinny white roof is covered with lead tiles.

After almost a 2hrs walk, finally it's time to move forward. But before we head to our mini bus, we did some light souvenir shopping on the street outside Kenrokuen Garden ;oP

It was late afternoon liao, we stopped by a unique shop when we were on our way to the last destination of the day.

Everything sold in this shop is all plated with real gold. Even the skincare~!!

I bought a gold box of mask & essence for my face ;oP but I haven't really got the chance to use it yet, might try it tonite at home and see if my face will turn really shiny after using the Gold Mask.

Ok, there was actually a story about this room. Something about a person who is so darn rich back in the old days, he uses actual gold to build his house or something. I wasn't really concentrating on the story that time cause I was too busy checking out the gold-made skincare bahhhh...

After the short stop at the gold-shop, off we head to our final spot of the day. Few more hours to go and I can finally crash on my new hotel bed!! yes, I was pretty tired walking liao that day!

Kurokabe Square
It last evening time when we got there so most of the shop are closing down liao..

aaah~~ tis is wat I wanna be..

pui pui + kawaii + with lotsa money!! kaching!!

Mommy is always happy when there are stuff for her to buy, especially when the stuff is FOOD. She was freezing cold here but still managed to pose for the camera of course ;oP

yupe, all for sale.. but no point buying these stuff home la...

*Souvenirs sold*

Daddy was really busy snapping photos around when he was in Japan. Every little this and that. Luckily for tat, all of u get to see great photos ;o)

Tat's a wrap for today!

Off we head to our hotel and get ready for tomolo~ I was getting excited cause we'll be heading into more modern (cities) places liao starting tomolo onwards.. jeng jeng jeng..

-stay tuned-

Tokikunike + Wajima

2010-01-04T13:27:00.016+08:00

Day 7.

I remember this day well cause we spent at least 8hrs++ of our day in the tour bus. This is because we're heading off to Wajima - u can say it's a small island CONNECTED to Japan in the middle of the Japan ocean. U'll understand what I meant by checking out the Japan map!

Anyway, we managed to arrived in Wajima in time (3hrs drive).

This is the COLDEST place we've been to for this trip - it was so damn windy and worst of all, it was raining a bit during the time of our visit!

I was freezing!!!!
At first, we thought we've arrived at a dead-man town cause there wasn't much ppl around and most of the shops were all closed! We were all cracking our heads thinking, "why the heck did we travelled so damn far to see a dead-man town?"

The view was nice (yea.. of course..)

Now, THESE are the reason why we travelled all this way for!!

The town is known within Japan for its lacquerware, called Wajima-nuri - mixing a finely powdered mineral, jinoko, with the lacquer in the early stages of production.

Jinoko adds extra durability to Wajima-nuri items - the rougher, earlier layers are then coated with more layers of finer lacquer, which is then polished to a lustrous shine, and often decorated with designs made of gold and other precious materials. The lacquer tree was once abundant in the area, but is now scarce and most of the lacquer used is imported from China.

yupe... traveled allllll the way here for THAT!!! ;o(

*a few pics taken at the place*

Time for lunchieeee~~

Okonomi-yaki
this is almost like the "roti canai" in our country but the only difference is that they mix all sorts of stuff in canai.. eeeeeuuuuuuu... my least favourite food in Japan!!! luckily the shop wasn't open for business that day ;oP

Thank God lastly the majority decides to go for Japan curry instead.

CURRY = my favourite!! don't know how does Japan curry tastes like but I was really looking forward to try it cause the smell is so damn irresistable!!

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT + TASTE!!!

Japan curry is now definitely in the top list of "my favourite food" in the world!!

The rest of the gang didn't liked it much but I was totally into it~ shud give it a try if ur in Japan!! HIGHLY RECOMMANDED!!

After finishing our GREAT lunch, off we head to another spot!!~

While we were on our way to the next destination, we stopped by a beautiful spot where we get to see the Japan sea and also a spectacular view ;o)

Who said u can't tanam padi beside the salted sea water?? Japanese proved u wrong!

Told ya it had a spectacular view~~

It was freezing cold out there but I insisted to take the picture without my jacket on!! haha.. trying to maintain my not-so-cold face was pretty hard but guess I managed to pull it off ;oP

That's the name of the place ;oP

I don't really read chinese so sorry, cannot translate.

Japan Sea

Finally!! After few times visiting Japan.. finally I get to have a look at the Japan sea!!

The wind is almost like a tornado!! My dads' hand was freezing (no glove) when he took pictures here and we were like ice-cold!! but we all know, sacrifices has to be made in order to have a great shot ;oP lol~

Me and mom trying to sit still for the camera.. but FAILED!!

beaten by the strong wind.. sigh..

a decent photo! FINALLY after hundreds of shots!!

*
*

After having those crazy photoshoots.. we finally reached our next destination,

TOKIKUNIKE

This is the house of the family ancestors of Taira Dainagon Tokitada.
Well, not actually THE house - they rebuilt it after finding it was a bit worn out. The 21st head of the family had this new house built by a local carpenter named Yasuko in the early year of the nineteeth century.

ok ok.. beli tiket dulu..

den it's off we go to check out the BIG BIG house.. if only i have one of these ;oP

*The Garden*
Japanese sure knows how to come up with an outstanding landscape ;o)

The work of building this house took no less than 28 years and some of the fixtures-doors and transoms in the old house were transfered to this new house.

The present head of the family is the 24th.

give up! totally forgot wat room is this liao..

It's either Kami-hiro-ma (waiting room) or it's the Gozen-no-ma (Lord's room) - I'll probably go for the 1st choice ;oP

*The bathroom*
The tub has no fireplace in it. Water is heated elsewhere and carried here in pails. A large piece of cloth is put into the tub to prevent direct contact of the body with it.

The items displayed in one of the room for ur view.

This should be the kitchen..

see the REAL kitchen behind my back? that's for the ppl working/ living in here ;o)

* The palanquin*
This is wat the head of the family uses to traveled. The present Mr. Tokikuni is the first one who has not used it.

*Random pics taken inside the mansion*

I dunno why but the souvenirs sold there are mostly dolls with a devilish face. Maybe it's something like their custom or tradision or something.. but it sure looks scary to me...

That was all for that day, we only actually seen 2 places. Spent most of the time in the bus.. it was even more tiring than walking around here and there ;o(

jeng jeng.. finally we're back in the hotel!

Another new hotel. We moved around from hotel to hotel for almost a few days liao by now. When we get back to Osaka, we're staying put in Swissotel for 4 nights.. Thank God!!

yes, welcome to TONAMI ROYAL HOTEL!

more shopping.. there is just no escape for the shopping stores when my mom laid her eyes on them.. tsk tsk tsk..

Dinner time!!

U get to eat a lot wearing the yukata. After the wonderful dinner, it was time to head to bed for us, tomorrow is another day in paradise..

and I finally find the guts to try out the open hot spring here ;oP

-stay tuned-

Takayama Jinya + Hida No Sato

2010-01-01T10:47:00.000+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!

2010 is finally here. I should be blogging about how I spent my new year but then there was nothing much to blog about. I spent the night at a friend's open house and then countdown at SOHO - that's about summarizing my New Year celebration ;oP

Ok, time to get back on track.

Day 6 of our long Japan holiday.

After a nice breakfast, it's time to continue on with our journey.

Hida Plaze Hotel

For more information, u can check out their website:

http://www.hida-hotelplaza.co.jp/english/index.html

Our first stop for the day was Takayama morning market
The weather was getting colder and colder as we're moved forward so our clothing was also getting thicker and thicker ;o(

Just like any normal morning market, u can see ppl selling handmade clothing + fresh vege + plants and all sorts of "morning stuff".

The place was full with small stores by the road.
The ppl there was very friendly - expected from a Japanese.

Den there was this small store by the road selling all sorts of teddies + dolls.

I'm sure if my best friend Shirley was here, she would have gone insane and keep on shouting. "I want this, I want that one and I want the other one too..." ;oP

My cousin bought a cute puppy doll in a bag for herself.

The biggest one I've seen so far!!

200 yen = about RM10 each - talking about expensive vege huh?!

corn corn~ jagung jagung~

hubbys' favourite ;o)

Giving out free food!!

of course cannot missed out la.. "free" worr ;oP

*malu pula dia*

Kobe beef!! Kobe beef!! selling in satay form!!

Price: About RM20 per stick - still consider cheap cause its Kobe beef worr.. the beef of the cow that grew up listening to music + massaged daily + feed with high quality food neh..

Luckily my dad is into photography LATELY - or else I'm sure I won't be able to find the time to shop + taking pictures at the same time.

Bought a cute handmade Japanese jacket for my baby nephew back at home - cost me about RM150.. sigh.. nothing is cheap in Japan and I do mean NOTHING!!

Finally, a picture of my dad aka the photographer with his mighty engine.

Taking all the credit for the wonderful pictures~~

*
Next stop, TAKAYAMA JINYA.

Takayama Jinya

A branch office of the government from 1692 - 1868. It is designated as a National historical site and is the only existing building of its kind in Japan.

For more info of the place, u can check it out on their website;

http://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/pref/s27212

but first, u will have to know Japanese language in order to understand tho ;oP

Onyakusho, Goyouba

(Offices)

The offices were clearly separated by the status

*Random pictures taken of the place*

Zashiki

(Guest Room)
not bad neh.. big guest room..

The dried up "kolam renang".. ok, I made this up!

I forgot wat is this big hole doing there for liao..

I'm sure this place is called "The Kitchen" in our time ;oP

The Japanese - style Garden
The view from the living room of the residence of the head official. It remains the image of the Edo period.

Oshirasu, Ginmisho

(Law Court and Interrogation Room)

but for me, I called it "The Torturing Room"

It dealt with criminal cases. A roof was covered because of yearly snow.

aaarrrggghhh.. Japanese ppl sure can come up with ideas on how to torture ppl. Just seeing the torturing equipments there already gives me the chill ;o(

After done checking out the building, off we head out to the street around Takayama Jinya.

Din shop much here cause they're selling mostly souvenir stuff~

*Cousin Fabrian*

Busy eating his milk-icecream - I have to agree, Japan really produces one of the best milk (vanilla) ice-cream in the world!

This area of the street is where u can find the "Old Private Houses"

The rich atmosphere of Takayama castle town still lingers, and u can see sake breweries and merchants' houses with latticed bay windows standing in a row.

The town village still stands on the east side of the Miyagawa River flowing through Takayama, and in the middle of it is Sanmachi, where Edo period houses remain - they are all like at least 300 years old!!

This district was designated an area of important traditional buildings by the Japanese government.

*Giving away free food*.. again!!!
I bought a lot of nice food here for the gang back home. I was a bit full liao after trying so much free food so I asked my cousin Jessica to help me out ;oP

I'm not so stupid to buy this kind of stuff back home liao!!

Cause I was cheated the last time I bought an umbrella back home from Thailand. They tend to sell it so much more expensive there!!

*ikan bilis.. ikan bilis* for sale~~

The cute me in Takayama street.. eeeehhh sehhh!! LOL!!

It was a tiring walk..

*Random pics taken of the place*

*tired liaooo...*

rest rest for a while before continuing our journey. Time to grab some lunch liao!! I don't really know about u all but for me, I'm not a big fan of Japanese cuisine and I don't eat raw food so I didn't really enjoy eating in Japan.. altho I still don't understand why I can still managed to gained 4kgs!!!!

*Japanese amoi grabbing her lunch*

Daddy took a pic of her without her knowing.. it's not easy snapping a picture of someone secretly when you're holding a very BIG camera lorr..

Last stop before we called it a day!

Off we head to a place called, "Hida No Sato" - Hida Folk Village.

After hitching an 1hrs++ car ride, there we were at our destination!

This place was built to preserve Japanese traditional house - cultural heritage.

The Nishiokas' House

The house is worthy of study by historians of architecture. It has two features. One is seen in the steep-slated roof, and the other in the room arrangement.

The water mill

Nice Padi field ;o)

The BIG BELL outside Hozumis' House
- my favourite part of the place -

this is because the ppl there believed, if u make a wish sincerly and then ring the big bell, your wish will come true!! oh yeaaaa.. OF COURSE I TRIED IT!!!

After q-ing for 15mins, finally it was my turn.

My 2 small cousins + aunty had a lot of wishes so I had to wait for a while for my turn ;oP
I only had ONE wish that day and guess what.. I think it's coming true (so far)~~

Me with the earthly Gods~

It was freezing cold leh over there!! brrrrrrrr..

I was so glad when I found a fire-place!!!!!

One last shot of the place before we head back to our NEW hotel and rest.. preparing for the next day ;o)

*souvenirs sold - the design of the houses there*

too expensive liao.. I cannot afford to buy ;oP

For more info of the place, pls visit their website;

http://www.hida.jp/hidanosato/

-stay tuned-

Christmas 2009 - Singapore

2009-12-29T15:10:00.016+08:00

Better stop on the Japan blog for a while and show some Xmas love~

Me and my hubby + family spent our Christmas in Singapore this year. It was a short trip, just 2 days to be exact. We didn't really got the chance to shop much due to our TIGHT schedule and worst of all, I can only take pictures using my "compact camera". After seeing the effect of what my dads' DSLR camera can do.. aduuuiii... I shud really save up and get myself a DSLR!!

*mahal neh itu abalone..*
Upon arrival in Singapore, we headed straight for its famous "bak kut teh". This was my first time having Singapore "bak kut teh" so I was really looking forward for it ;o)

hmm.. the Singapore "bak kut teh" really tasted very different than the ones back home (Miri). It even LOOK different cause the colour of the soup we have back home is dark brown and this one is colour-less!! I prefer the one back home MUCH MUCH more lorr..
And there is just something I don't understand about their tea cup.. WHY SO SMALLL????!!!!

After finishing our late-lunch, off we head for a little sight seeing. Friends of the family, Dennis + David brought us around during our short trip this time - thanks for the great hospitality ;o)

Our first stop was a Mount Faber. Nice view but it was pretty hot that time so we decided it's better if we head to someplace cooler - that is when the "underwater world" in Sentosa idea pops out.

Den "bam"! We're at Sentosa!

It was SOOOOoooOOOOOooo damn crowded that day! Maybe it's because of the holiday season.. OMG!! we can barely walk properly there. After jamming/Q-ing for 1 hour, we decided it was better for us to just check in the hotel and get some rest ;o( came all the way here just to smell the human sweat nia.. tsk tsk tsk..

Bayview Hotel - at bencoolen

Crash straight on bed upon check in. Don't even feel like showering (altho in the end I did la..). I don't really like coming to Singapore during Xmas cause the whole city is filled with people - had my experience liao 3 years ago ;o(

After freshen up, off we head to Orchard Road for some sight seeing of the Xmas decoration! The entire road was close for Xmas parade and YES!! IT WAS PACKED WITH HUMAN BEINGSSSS!!

... cute little Singaporean Santa helpers...

But my hubby thinks I look much better, LOL!!

I shud have brought my Santa-helper costume over and fight with them, MALAYSIA BOLEH bahhh!! ;oP

Two thumbs up for the decoration.

We did tried to do some shopping back then BUT the place was just too packed. There were sales everywhere and also people everywhere. Feeling tired and all, we decided might as well we start our shopping the next day.

Pretty women~~ walking down the street~~

The tired us..

(taken using a DSLR camera - see the difference??)

ION Mall Taxi area

After walking around the streets for 2hours, we decided to head back to the hotel and rest.

*
The brothers, Dennis + David picked us up at the hotel the next day at 12pm for lunch. He said the place we're going is quite famous and he had to make early reservation to make sure there are seats available for all of us.

And this was it.. "Beng Hiang Restaurant"

Here comes the roast pig~~

THIS IS REALLY DAMN GOOOODDDDD!!!!

(try to ignore the tail)

..... and it's gone~ in 60 seconds!! (including the tail!!!)

*burp*

That was nice. After a full brunch.. it's finally SHOPPPPPING TIMEEEE!!!!!

*Juicy Couture Perfume Set*

... adding another member into my Perfume Collection. I shud stop now until I finish using up all the frangrances I have in hand ;o(

Anyway, this is the only thing I bought back from Singapore. Unbelieveable? Believe it! LOL!! We only had like 2 hours to shop - accompany hubby in the bookstore took us almost 1hr liao.. sigh.. oh well, at least I didn't get to spend much ;o)

This is the reason why we only had 2hrs to shop - crow shooting.
Dennis was all pumped up for this shooting session... and so was my husband ;o(

Mother in law + Hubby

It has been a while since he did some shooting liao.. so I don't blame him for being all excited and such. As for me, I was only snapping pictures and asking questions around cause I don't even wanna think about trying "shooting"

Father in law with his engine

Only my brother in law + wife + BB Ryan insisted not to join the shooting session cause they prefer to continue shopping back there.. sigh.. if I knew it was gonna take this long, I would have accept their offer to stayed back with them ;oP

not bad~ not bad~

managed to shoot the target on 1st try!

guess my hubby still has it.. ehh sehh..
I bet I couldn't even hit ONE target using 100 bullets ;oP

After finishing the shooting session, it was time to get back to the hotel and freshen up for our dinner that night. But before we head off............

of course we need to snap a pic of me laaarrrr..

eh, real gun ok!! hahahaha..

seems like the rumors were not true lehh, I don't look like Angelina Jolie at all - maybe I shud had try doing some of her killer poses, that would have helped a lot ;oP

No Signboard Seafood

I'm sure ANY Singaporean knows this place.

One of the famous seafood restaurant in Singapore.

The shop is called "NO SIGNBOARD SEAFOOD" is because when the owner first started up the business, he doesn't have enough capital to even set up a signboard for his restaurant - time passes and the restaurant grew famous and the owner decided to just use back the idea to named his restaurant that way ;o)

I was starving liao.. so watever it is, just bring it ON!!!

sowwie.. I stop snapping pictures of the food on the 4th dish liao cause I had to focus eating..

You shud definitely drop by this place whenever ur visiting Singapore, u won't regret it!!

even those famous ppl also came here for the seafood.. haii~~ wonder why the ppl there didn't ask for my picture to be taken with them ;o(
After finishing our dinner, it was already 9pm++. Finally got the call I've been waiting for, Ms. Kelly Tay - had a quick catching up session with her and her bf (tiam.. forgot his name again) at Kopitiam.

*
*

Den it's time to go home liao the next day. Told ya it was a short trip!!

I didn't even felt I was in Singapore.. haha..

We're using the AirAsia direct flight back to Miri on 27th December morning.

Hubby & I

It's a 2 hours flight back so with nothing to do, might as well do some cam-whoring!

Baby Ryan (sleeping)

I wasn't the ONLY one snapping pictures wit my camera.. orang ada DSLR, aku baru compact camera, mana berani mau fight~

We had a feast on the plane.

Tried almost everything that is in the menu!

mm.. there was something fishy inside hubbys' drink!

still have no idea wat was it until today! only noticed it after we nearly finished the whole thing ;o(

Tuna Sandwich

Kon-lo Mee
It actually tasted not that bad!!

Nasi Lemak

Fried Rice (Vegetarian)

The rice was over-cooked for this one.

Fried Rice + Satay
This is highly recommanded!

Satay

Habis our lunch liao, clearing things up and get ready to land!!!

- MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009 TO ALL OF YOU -

New Year 2010 Resolution

2009-12-29T09:58:00.003+08:00

A brand new year is only 2 days away. It's that time of the year again where I have to set out my new year's resolution! Altho I think I didn't really accomplished all the resolutions for year 2009 but wat the heck, I'll just carry it forward la ;oP

Top 10 New Year's Resolution:

Be a better wife (love + controlling my temper)
Be a better daughter & sister (respect + care + visit more often)
Be a better friend (care + keeping in touch)
Be a better employee (snake less ;oP)
Make sure I save up at least 30% of my income every month
Do more travelling. MORE!!!
Keeping my blog up-to-date
Be more concern of my own health care + stay in shape
Learn to be more happier - not thinking too much.
Will visit Oia Santorini one day (I'm sure I'll be carrying this forward again.. lol..)

No, having a baby is definitely not in my New Year resolution.. lol!!

It might sound simple but sometimes people tend to forget the simple pleasures in life. Coming up with resolutions is easy but make sure u keep it - tat's the hard part ;o) Oh well, that's it all for me. How about your new year's resolution?

Shirakawa Village + Hida Furukawa

2009-12-28T12:00:00.018+08:00

Left the hotel at 9am in the morning and off we go for a loooong journey on the road -Day 5- to visit the famous UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ) World Heritage Shirakawa-go.

It took us about 3hrs drive to get there!!

yes, it was definitely a long journey. Heard a lot of rumors about how beautiful this place is and it being able to be named as ONE of the UNESCO World Heritage - UNESCO has a purpose of protecting and preserving its sites, and becoming a tourist trap is against their goals.

Shirakawa (白川村, Shirakawa-mura) is a Ogi-machi gassho style village located in the northwest part of Ono district, Gifu. It is one of the snowiest places in Japan.

Crossing the bridge to enter the Shirakawa-go Village.

It was really cold +rainy there!! Thank God I was well-prepared.

This village is well known for their houses constructed in architectural style known as gassho-zukuri.

The Gassho-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style is characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer. The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.

*Random shots taken*
The place really is worth the car ride. Too bad it wasn't snowing the time we got there or else I'm sure the view will be even more breath-taking ;o)

The houses are large, with three to four stories encompassed between the low eaves, and intended, historically, to house large extended families and an highly-efficient space for a variety of industries.

My mom been wanted to come to this place since like FOREVER!!

She was so busy snapping pictures here and there - the camera was FULL of her pictures. Guessed she had totally forgotten about her luggage went missing issue when she was here ;oP

But this village really does have a beautiful scenery.

Highly recommended!!

The drains in the village was so clean that the people there could even grew fishes in it! The fishes were all hiding under the big rock when we were there cause they were trying to avoid ~~the rain-drops falling on their heads~~

Shots taken by my daddy while me and mom was busy shopping ;oP

After an 1hr walk, we decided to head back to the bus.

Getting tired + Broke + Hungry

Time for lunch!! YES!! FOOOOOOODDDDDD!!!
Now I know why ppl tend to get fat during the winter. First u don sweat + Second u get hungry easily + Third, all u wanted to do is just SLEEP!

My lunch.

Japanese kampung style ;o)

"Bon-appetite"
Really kampung style lorr..

The food was not bad.. mmm.. tasted different than the ones we used to have back in the city but who am I to complain lahh.. we're in a "village" so wat can we expect?!

Some of the souvenirs sold.

All the stuff are so cute but TOO expensive so I can't afford to get any home for u all. Sowwie la ya ;oP

Nice view on a mountain top.

Back view: The entire Shirakawa Village

After taking the shots here, off we head another location! It's gonna be another 2 hours car drive to get to our next destination so meaning, more sleeping time for me ;oP

Our next stop was Hida Furukawa.

During the age of provincial wars, Nagachika Kanamori dominated Hida instructed by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Second generation Arishige built the "Masushima castle" here in Furukawa, the only flat castle in Hida and made a castle town in 1589.

Finally reaching our new spot!

Find a parking and we're off to hunt the ground ;oP

*Random shots taken*

As a cornerstone this cityscape still remains even now.

Seto River and White Wall Clay Storehouse Quarter

White wall clay storehouse and stonewall temples in the background. Seto River with about 800 carp swimming is the main spot that could be said the face of castle town Hida Furukawa with it's mellow sentimental scenery.

Japanese kids playing around Seto River.

See their cute hats and standardized school bags? - Our tour guide told us that all the Japanese students are required to use this kind of school bag cause it won't affect the growth rate (height) of a child.

Old Cityscape

Cityscape of Fukukawa was made about 400 years ago as a basic of a castle town. Nine tenth of it was burnt down by the Furukawa conflagration in 1904, but the tradisional urban architecture style came down and the beautiful wooden houses still stand in a row now.

Seto River and Carp

In the old days, the "Seto River" was a clean canal that could be used to wash vegetables, but it was seriously polluted during the high-growth period. Request for making Seto River beautiful again, with resident's donation, carps move to a wintering spot and move back to Seto River in spring again.

Honkouji Temple
There were 3 temples here but I only managed to find ONE of it ;o(

An event called "Santera Mairi" is held annually on January 15 and ppl visit 3 temples here, Enko-ji,Shunshu-ji and Honko-ji.

Snow candle statues over 2meters stand in a row on the main street and thousand candles are lit in Seto River. These are familiar by the ppl as a winter tradision of Furukawa.

In Meiji and Taisho era, young females came home from working away at a thread factory in the end of December, they dressed up and visited the three temples so it was a good chance to find a wife and said to be many marriage were fulfilled.

I'm not that smart to remember EVERYTHING the guide said to us so most of the description said above are based on the notes I bought home with me, so I'm not taking much of the credit for it.. haha..

*Souvenirs shop*

jeng jeng~

Japanese dog!!

(missing my babies at home.. sigh..)

Ice-cream + Kobe beef time!

eh.. it's a long walk leh.. ppl tend to get hungry fast de ok!!

The day is finally over.

Feeling tired and all, I was really looking forward on heading to our new hotel just so I can crash on my bed AND maybe, try out the hotspring ;oP

-stay tuned-

Gifu Grand Hotel

2009-12-28T08:41:00.004+08:00

Our first night in a Japanese-style Hotel with the tatami floor and everything. I dunno bout most people but I'm not really a fan of a Japanese-syle suite cause I tend to find it a little uncomfortable to be sleeping on the mattress on the floor ;oP

Mommy enjoying her "cup-of-tea" in a yukata ;o)

The fat me in my yukata ;oP

Gifu Grand Hotel is located in the midst of a quiet green area and completely insulated from the dim of the city. You can get an excellent panoramic view of the Nagara River and the castle atop of Mt. Kinka. Gifu is also noted for the famous Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River, which takes place from May 11 to October 15 every year.

Finally, it's time to have our dinner.

We had a simple dinner inside the hotel.

It was a typical Japanese set dinner.

Everyone gets to have a small steamboat each ;oP

"Bon-appetite"

Most of the people wanted to finished off the dinner quickly so they can go and enjoy the hotspring provided in the hotel. NO! Im not one of them. I still can't accept the fact that I have to bath naked together with other people ;o(

well, at least not TAT DAY;oP

Mom snapping a pic with the waitress before crashing into bed ;o)

-stay tuned-

Nagoya Castle + Osu Kannon Temple

2009-12-24T08:15:00.013+08:00

One post a day, not bad ma.. haha.. but will be taking a 3 days break from blogging cause I'll be away for Xmas vacation ;oP

Third Day.

We visited a lot of historical places for our trip to Japan this time. Well, it gets boring if u see too much of it but then, look at the bright side, at least u get to know more about the real Japan ;o)
Nagoya Castle was constructed on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to secure an important position in the middle of Japan and to ward off attacks from the direction of Osaka.

Main Gate

This gate was originally called the Nishinomaru-enokida Gate. It was destroyed by fire during the World War II. The gate was reconstructed together with the donjon in 1959.

Kinshachi (the golden dolphins)
A symbol of the feudal lord's authority

Southwest Tower

This tower is also called the Hitsuji-saru Tower. It is three stories tall with a two-level roof. On the west and south sides, trap doors project below the lower-level roof for the purpose of dropping stones on attackers to defend the castle. The symbol of the chrysanthemum (the Imperial crest) can be seen on the ridge-end tiles.

Stone Wall
There were inscriptions carved on the stone walls by the feudal lords who were ordered to built it - to distinguish those that they carried from those of other feudal lords. Yes! they built the entire place without using any machines!! wonder how the heck did they carried those heavy stones one by one ;o(

The Donjon - Nagoya Castle
This is the main reason why we were here in the first place!

The original Nagoya Castle, surmounted by its resplendent golden dolphins, was burned to ashes in the WWII. In 1959, the main donjon, the small donjon, the abutment bridge between the two, and the main gate were reconstructed.

Tired walking and telling stories liao.. makan ice-cream dulu~

btw, Japan ice-creams are definitely the best in the whole wide world!!

Snap some pictures with the ninjas before heading in Nagoya Castle.

Actually I insisted on taking pictures with them is because I saw one eng-dao kia among them.. nehh.. the one wearing RED costume holding a spear de ;oP but since I'm a shy + married lady, I decided to keep my distance when snapping the photo.. ehhh sehhh!!!

Random pictures taken inside Nagoya Castle ;o)

Recognized this anyone??

There is a cafe in Miri using the same name (which offers way better kon-lo mee than Japanese Ramen!!)

It was actually pretty dark in there BUT!! thank God for my professional photographer aka DADDY and his reliable engine, we were able to snap some pictures of the place.

they really do have very LOOONG guns back then ;o)

wonder how will they be able to carry and fire them

Me with the golden dolphin.

I don understand why would they called it a "dolphin" cause it has the face of a dragon, the tail of a normal fish and it has wings ;o( I'm lost.

At the rooftop of Nagoya Castle ;o)

YES!! it was a tiring walk going up.. and downnnnn..

OK! done with this place. Time to head to another.

Back outside to the COLD winter.. sigh.. it was pretty cold when we were there and it tend to rains a lot ;o(

*
Next stop!! Osu Kannon Temple.

*Our mini tour bus*

I really have fate with the number "8"

Drove Triple 8 back home & using a Four 8 in Japan ;o)

But how come I haven "fatt fatt fatt" leh?? sien..

Me acting like a ke-lin-kei sii tour guide! ehh sehh..

I dunno why was I having this expression that time, lol!! and everyone is listening to me.. wonder what the heck did I said back then ;oP

Osu Kannon Temple

The main symbol of the Osu Kannon area in Nagoya. The temple was moved in 1612 from Hashima City in Gifu Prefecture by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Nagoya's largest antique market happens here twice a month on the 18th and 28th of each month.

.... but then me, myself, would be calling this place "The Birds' Temple" cause the place if filled with birds!! - waiting to be feed ;o(

SEE!! even the souvenir they are selling there are all related to birds!

Nicely hand-made tho..

Me - trying to buy some birds' feed to give to the birds.. sekali belum lagi bought it, already cannot tahan the birds' pecking!! In the end, I gave up cause I cannot tahan the feathers and the smell.

But then, it didn't stop my uncle tho.. he walked up to me and said, siam!! small stuff like this also cannot handle.. let me show u how a real man does it.. with style!!

So.. this is wat happened....

.... with style la konon!!! LOL!!

A small shopping street just beside Osu Kannon Temple, did some light shopping before heading back to the hotel for a rest.

-stay tuned-

Nara Deer Park + Todaiji Temple

2009-12-23T11:32:00.014+08:00

After getting a good night sleep, finished recharging, I was all pumped up and ready for the next day ;oP During the 2nd day, our plan was to visit the Nara area..

*on the bus*

we drove thru a crowd of people - filming a Korean movie. I kept an eye out to see if Rain is somehow in there, too bad he wasn't. If he was, I would have jumped off the bus and run straight to him, lol!!

Nara Deer Park
After an hour drive, we finally reached our destination. The place is definitely one of the main attraction around cause the car park was filled with tourist buses.

Over 1,200 sika deer are left freely roaming around the park. The size of the park itself is about 502 ha, the area including the grounds of Todaiji, Kofuku-ji and Kasuga Shrine, which are either on the edge or surrounded by Nara Park, is as large as 660 ha.

One thing u have to be able to hold is the SMELL!! yea, deer = smelly

And once they see u're grabbing something to eat in your hand, ur doom!! they will do anything to get the food into their mouth even if it means they have to tear your baju to get your attention!

Information Counter @ Rooftop for Nara Deer Park

My mom tried out the "Earthquake Experience" machine at the information counter where u get to feel wat is it like when there is an earthquake.

After finished toying around with some of the deer, off we head to the famous Todaiji Temple. The place was really BIG and crowded, I somehow regret I wore my nice boots cause my foot was starting to feel the pressure liao just after 30mins of walking ;o(

Before we head in to the temple, my mom suddenly shouted, "POTATOSSS!!!"

yupe, nothing eat-able can escape my moms' eyes ;o(

If u ask me, I prefer China potatos, much sweeter ;oP

Agyo.

One of two great Nio gate guardians within Nandaimon, was created by Unkei in 1203. It's a statue, not a picture!!

Tōdai-ji (Eastern Great Temple), is a Buddist temple complex. Great Buddha Hall - the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu. The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism.

Todai-ji Temple

The people there believe the person who passes through the hole in a great pillar (natural) supporting what is said to be the largest wooden building in the world - if a youth makes a wish and passes through, the wish will come true.

I wanted to pass thru but the hole looks really small to me.. better don take the risk la, sekali stuck cannot come out, malu pula ;oP

The view outside Todaiji Temple.

Sunny and Windy that day ;o)

More deer..

Sika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.

*I'm bringing sexy back (as usual) yeaaaahhhh~~~*

See my killer boots?? yea.. it was killing me that time!!

Drawn by one of the painters..

There were a lot of elderly people sitting by the road side, drawing pictures of the place

Random pictures snapped.

The place was really big, I was so darn tired walking.. luckily for the cold weather, I can still last until I finally get back to the car park ;o(

The tired us... jin jin tired..

See how big this place is!! ggggrrrr..

sampai I tengok deer also feel bored liao.. haha..

Mom was really working hard on having great photos taken. My pictures were only about say 500 or so.. the rest of the 1500 pictures are mostly hers.

We're almost back to the car park liao.. before that we decided to feed the deer one last time. After this we head off to a shopping street nearby Nara Deer Park, nothing much to do tat day, just do some light sight seeing and then we called it a day ;o)

*Pictures for my cousin Alex Chan ;oP*

-stay tuned-

Universal Studio - Osaka, Japan

2009-12-22T14:48:00.012+08:00

FINALLY!! took me 2 days to ready up all the pictures for blogging.. now it's all ready, just need to start on the story telling. This is probably gonna take me forever to finish blogging about my Japan trip ;oP

We spend hours in KLIA waiting for our connection flight to Kansai Airport.. yea, my mom was REALLY EXCITED!! I was tired. I hate midnight flight cause it's so darn hard to get some shut-eyes in the plane ;o(

Arrived at Kansai airport around 7am++ (Osaka time) the next day. TIRED!! TIRED!! but still can find the energy to pose for the camera of course.

My mom left her entire luggage bag here at the airport (after changing into winter attire) and yup, it was gone the moment we realised (after checking in the hotel later on in the evening) that we didn't have it with us.

Ms. Nelly Lin @ our tour guide for this long trip.
A taiwanese girl whose childhood + NOW wish is to get married.. hehe..

Kansai Airport

It was nice to have finally reached Osaka, after that 6 hours flight. We were all so tired cause none of us had any proper slept on the night before. Our schedule for the 1st day was UNIVERSAL STUDIO! so yea, the kids were damn excited about it..

Universal Studio

After riding in the car for about 1 hour, we reached our first destination. The weather was sunny and it wasn't as cold as I expected. I didn't really had a lot of fun here cause I was a bit too tired just wanting to get this day over with so I can head back to the hotel and SLEEP!!!

Before we conquer Universal Studio, we decided to head over to the other side of the street to hunt for some food first. Breakfast. The shops only opens at 11am SHARP so we had to wait a little while before we can grab our dinner.

My 1st breakfast in Japan - year 2009 - Japanese Noodle.

And if any of u wanna know how it taste like.. well.. u can say I myself would MUCH prefer Miri punya kon-lo-mee ;o)

After finishing our quick brunch, we head off to Universal Studio~

Us with Mr. Woodpecker

There were a lot of cartoons standing at the main entrance of the Studio. Kids were lining up to take pictures with all of them and my baby cousin was like "yerr.. I wanna take pics too.. but scare leh.. Japanese kids so rough.." so, as her big sister, I had to squeeze US in to have our pics taken.

Imagine la.. all the parents are fighting for their kids to snap pics.. den sekali ME, the oldest among the KIDS had to squeeze in.. fighting my way in among all those small children.. haii~~ I feel ashamed of myself ;o(

Us with Mr. Snowman

Oh well, at least we caught a lot of nice shots!! Don care la.. act cute pun act cute la.. besides, no one knows me around there ;oP

The happy + tired US.. walking down the street..

Universal Studio is not as crowded as it was before.. seems like as if the place is closing down soon. A lot of the main attractions are either CLOSED for renovation @ GONE!

Let's take this ET Studio for example.

The last time my cousin went in here, there were a lot of entertainment such as riding a bicycle and feel like as if u're flying in the sky, across the moon.. but sekali I walked till the end liao, nothing nehhh.. just see a few moving statues of the ET nia.. den some history about it.. dui~~ wasted my precious time ;o(

sigh~~ the disappointed me.. haha.. kena tipu..

might as well snap photos nia.. the view and street here are very nice, a great place for photoshooting. My dad pia-chin lorr.. time to put his camera aka engine to the test ;oP this was my 1st time to go on vacation without having to bring a camera along.. cause.. there was a cameraman with me this time!! MY DAD!! it's damn nice to have a dad who is into photography cause then he will never complain if u say, "dad!! take a great shot of me here!! and make sure it's a GREAT shot!!"

The Spiderman Studio

This was probably the most entertaining ride of the whole place!!

A short semi-rollercoster ride..

It's nice walking around town during the winter cause u will never feel tired.. and most importantly, your face + body won't be able to feel OILY!!

The Hotdog corner

But the bad thing about walking around during winter is.. u tend to get hungry very easily. I gained 4kg after coming back from this trip cause all I did was eat and sleep.. eat and sleep..

*pweeitt* nice hair!! ;oP

The gang from Sesame Street

ooohh... this one is OLD~~

I never liked this cartoon, even when I was a kid.. wonder why..

Japanese English..

Steady lehhhh~~ even CCH also cannot fight ;oP

Pier 41

Anyone has any idea what movie this is?? cause I absolutely don't.

The Stone Age Area (Jurassic Park)

10,000 volts.. YEAAA RITEEEE~~ I'm not that dumb!

We had a BIG BIG dinasour thigh here for tea break.. damn it was good!!

I wanted to show u guys the pictures but then we were too concentrating enjoying the food so all the pictures turned out a BIT disgusting.. lol!!

This area was built for a movie where there are a lot of man eating sharks de.. I forgot wat the movie was called liao.. apa sudah nama dia?? Very famous de neh.. movie by Universal Studio.. ishhh..

Us with Mr. Hello Kitty

aarrrggghhh.. my least favourite cartoon in the world!! the things I do for my baby cousin.. tsk tsk tsk..

Us with Marilyn Monroe!!

Finally!! A character I love!! my cousin was forced to go into this pic with me.. haha.. she said "I don even know what cartoon is she" and I went -speechless-

Us with Shrek + Princess *wat wat*
ngaii tii.. I usually don sucks so much in blogging but this post about Universal Studio really challenged me, I'm really bad in remembering cartoon names..

Us with The Candyman

wanted to snap a pic with the Santa Clause but he was really OVER-surrounded by people liao.. haii~~ kolien him..

aaaarrrggghhh.. I hate this *forcing my smile*

Us with *forgot his name liao*

After a long tiring day, it's finally time to head to our 1st hotel

"Swissotel Osaka"

It's was really a tired day, I crash in bed around 8pm to make sure I was fully charged for the next day!! - stay tuned-

21 - 22 Nov 2009: My Weekend

2009-11-23T09:07:00.004+08:00

I had a quiet weekend last week. Spent most of my time with my hubby and family - since I'm going on vacation soon, thought of spending more time with my hubby larr..

On Saturday night, I went out with another 2 dear friends of mine, Velyn & Adeline to sorta celebrate Adeline's belated birthday ;o) We had a nice dinner at Zaika Restaurant before heading out to Citrus for another quick yam-cha session before heading home.. yes, aunty programs.. sigh..

Upon arrival at Citrus, just when the waiter pass me the menu, I sorta burst out in a small laughter cause I saw something pretty interesting...................

"Crouching Tiger Hidden SAUSAGE"

bei tahan when i see this food title, LOL!!

Introducing the NEW loyalty card!

And of course, being a regular here at Citrus, I got it for *FREE* larr..

For those who are interested, simply accumulate RM200 worth of receipt in a month and the card is free. The benefit is 10% off ala carte items and will work out some promotion along the way. Citrus card is for life and there is no annual fee.

Another Sunday morning - breakfast date with my hubby and family. Since baby Ryan woke up early tat day, thought of havin a quick photo session with him ;oP But there is just one thing I hate about this little fella'... it's almost impossible to get him to smile at the camera!! He can be smiling and laughing and the min he saw u pull out ur camera, he sorta just go back to his serious look! ANNOYINGGGG!!!

We had our breakfast at Boulevard Restaurant last Sunday - the dimsum here is quite nice, the place was pack with ppl when we got there.. had to wait for about 10mins to get a seat ;o(

Baby Ryan just got back from KB - Escapade.

They all went up to KB for the nice Japanese cuisine dinner that night but as a GOOD wife, I decided to stay put in Miri to accompany my hubby for dinner since he was having class at 7pm ;o)
There goes another weekend...............................

(1 more week and JAPAN!! HERE I COME!!)

Awaken

2009-11-18T14:31:00.002+08:00

It was a short conversation, 10-15 mins the most whereby I had a short talk with a dear friend of mine, Kelly Tay thru MSN this very morning. Altho it was a quick one but it was definitely the BEST advice a friend could give ;o) Thanks babe - sorry if u were late for work today ;oP What she said to me today woke me up entirely. She is right. It really doesn't matter who makes the first move, who brings in the bread, wat is fair and wat is not, so stop complaining and comparing.. cause at the end of the day, all that matters is you gave your best and everything to him - not asking for any return. That is what a marriage is all about.